The next item of business is a debate on motion S5M-14914, in the name of Miles Briggs, on a new approach needed to tackle Scotland’s drugs crisis. I call Miles Briggs to speak to and move the motion | They work for you, UK

[Open access] E‐cigarettes are the most popular aid to quitting smoking in the UK. Although many smokers quit, relapse is common. Historically, the literature has reported strong associations between tobacco smoking lapse and relapse following a quit attempt. This article aims to explore how smoking lapse is experienced by those who vape to quit smoking | Drug and Alcohol Review, UK

Deaths from drug overdoses in the US reached staggering new heights in 2017, according to newly published figures. Trump called the crisis a “national shame and human tragedy” – but what is fuelling it? | Guardian, UK

Successes and struggles of implementing harm reduction - peer administration of the ‘overdose antidote’ naloxone in Scotland, and provision of safer injecting facilities across Europe. From Canada, the potential risks of promoting rapid and widespread exit from methadone maintenance. Finally, can the principles of opioid substitute prescribing be applied to people dependent on amphetamines? | Drug and Alcohol Findings, UK

A Philippine court found three police officers guilty on Thursday of killing a student they alleged was a drug dealer, in the first known such conviction under the president's deadly crackdown on drugs | Telegraph, UK

Drinking even one pint of beer or one glass of wine could put you over the limit for drink driving is the warning from the Medical Bureau of Road Safety as a Christmas and New Year safety appeal is launched today | Irish Examiner, Ireland

The expansive court case seeking to hold drugmakers responsible for the nation's opioid crisis has a new complication: How does it deal with claims covering the thousands of babies born addicted to the drugs? | Medical Xpress, USA

One step forward, two back. The day after a federal judge issued a groundbreaking order for an incarcerated man to retain access to methadone in Massachusetts, an injunction in California halted the operations of the Orange County Needle Exchange Program | Filter Magazine, USA

No one is entirely sure about the origins of syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum. The first recorded outbreak in Europe appeared during the 1495 invasion of Naples, where it led to widespread disease and death, particularly among troops on the French side | Conversation, UK

Recently, British regulators and lawmakers have started to acknowledge the health benefits of certain, previously banned, substances. Cannabidiol (one of the chemical constituents of cannabis but with virtually all of the stuff that gets you high – THC – removed) has been legal since 2017 | Liberal Democrat Voice, UK

Calls for reforms to the approach Australian governments take to illicit drugs are growing stronger. The idea that personal drug use and possession should be treated primarily as a health and social issue, and not a criminal offence, is starting to become commonplace | Sydney Criminal Lawyers blog, Australia

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